Motiva Motor Speedway Dirt Track 10-11-2014
Bob & Ray Ingram


The final dirt track show of the year at Motiva Motor Speedway saw an entire show of Sprints cars for the Sprint Car Stampede. In the show were the Traditional Non-Wing Sprints, 305 Winged Sprints and the Mini-Sprints running both Winged and Non-Winged. On a nearly perfect day for racing there was plenty of action in all divisions on a very fast track. There was side by side racing, lots of passing and at least one race where the winner led less than ¼ lap. With all of the action there were no major crashes and very little damage to the race cars.

The Traditional Non-Wing Sprints had a smaller than expected field of 16 cars but these 16 put on a great show. Heat #1 went green to checkered with all 6 starters looking like winners. The #4X of Cody Mansfield shot out from his inside front row start and never give up the lead with the rest of the field keeping him in sight. After a race long battle the #148 of Don Grable from El Paso held off a hard charging Austin Mansfield #57 to finish 2nd and 3rd. Heat #2 also saw the pole-sitter #20Z Rick Ziehl from Las Cruces jump out to the lead and take a LONG win in front of the #26 of Randy Smith with the #55 of David Dykes coming home in 3rd place. Heat #3 saw a race long battle for the win with the brothers Grady from Farmington fighting for the win. The #12J of Josh Grady took off from the pole with his brother Jason in the #45 following close behind from his inside 2nd row start. Most of this year Josh has had to chase Jason but not today as no matter how hard Jason tried he could not get by Josh. At the checkered flag it was Josh Grady, Jason Grady and the #29 of Ted Schlote taking the 3rd spot. The 25 lap main-event quite possibly was the best race of the year at Motiva Motor Speedway as the 16 starters ran the entire race without a single yellow flag. The #45 of Jason Grady took off from his pole-position start and led the first several laps as the field sorted themselves out and tried to chase him down. The #20Z of Rick Ziehl was working his way up from his outside 3rd row start to challenge Grady. After a couple of laps Ziehl got by Grady and looked like he was pulling away from the field for the win, but the #74X of youngster Josh Hodges from Tijeras was working his way through the field from his outside 5th row start. With only a handful of laps left Hodges was right on the rear of the Ziehl machine. After looking first high then low, Hodges was able to squeeze by Ziehl and hold on for the very hard fought win. Chasing Hodges and Ziehl to the checkered was the #45 of Jason Grady, #4X Cody Mansfield and the #148 of Don Grable. There was so much passing in traffic that anything from 6th on back would be only a guess on our part so we will leave that to the excellent scoring staff.

The 305 Winged Sprints had their best field of the year with 9 cars on hand to put on a very good show. Heat #1 had the #56 of Amarillo driver Chris Douglas blast away from his outside front row start to take a very large lead and the win over the #6U of Anton Salopek from Las Cruces with the #12 of James Mosher coming home in 3rd. Heat #2 saw the #77 of Colt Treharn take off from the pole and fight off the very persistent #148 of Don Grable ( Grable was one of two drivers who ran in both the Winged and Non-Winged divisions, the other driver was the #99 of Chuck Jackson ), chasing Treharn and Grable home was the #12M of James Mosher. The 25 lap main-event was a thriller with the #12M of Jerry Mosher taking off in the lead with the #56 of Chris Dawson hot on his heels. Mosher was doing a great job of holding onto the top spot until an inadvertent yellow flag came out and brought the cars back together for the restart. On the restart Douglas was able to jump out to the lead and hold off Mosher the rest of the way to take a close win. Not to be outdone by the top two drivers there was a very tight battle for the 3rd spot among three drivers. At the end it was the #148 of Don Grable holding on for 3rd with the #6U of Anton Salopek taking 4th and the #77 of Cot Treharn finishing in the 5th spot.

The Mini-Sprints ran with and without wings today. The winged heat race had all 7 cars on hand take the green flag. The #22 of Robert Turner took off from his pole start to lead every lap with the #MR07 of Patrick Hurtado working his way up from the back row to make a valiant effort to take away the win at the checkered flag but falling a few feet short. Chasing Turner and Hurtado to the finish was the #9X of Eric Smith. The Winged main event was about as close a race as you can get as the #22 of Robert Turner and the #MR07 of Patrick Hurtado took off from the outside of the 1st and 2nd rows and ran virtually nose to tail the entire race with Hurtado actually getting up beside Turner on a couple of occasions but was never able to make the pass to take away the win. This was Turners first main-event win of the year. Chasing Turner and Hurtado to the finish line was #9X Eric Smith, #14 Alex Robinson and the #72 of Mike Barnes coming home in 5th position. The Non-Winged Mini-Sprints split their 9 cars into 2 heat races. Heat #1 saw the #45 of Phoenix driver Josh Shipley take the win in front of the #MR07 of Patrick Hurtado and the #72 of Mike Barnes. Heat #2 had the #9X of Eric Smith take the win with the #22 of Robert Turner taking 2nd and the #14 of Alex Robinson taking the 3rd position. The Non-Winged 25 lap main had all 9 cars on hand take the green flag and have only one caution period for a minor spin. Unlike the heat races the MR07 took the win in front of the #9X of Eric Smith and the #72 of Mike Barnes.

Non-Wing Sprints
Heat #1 #4X Cody Mansfield, #148 Don Grable, #57 Austin Mansfield, #74X Josh Hodges, #45X Josh Shipley, #4 Dylan Harris

Heat #2 #20Z Rick Ziehl, #26 Randy Smith, #55 David Dykes, #7M Mathew Cardenas, #50X Jerry Higgenbotham DNF

Heat #3 #12J Josh Grady, #45 Jason Grady, #29 Ted Schlote, #99 Chuck Jackson, #17 Steven Spiak DNF

Main-Event #74X Josh Hodges, #20Z Rick Ziehl, #45 Jason Grady, #148 Don Grable, from here on back was a crap shoot and we do not know how they finished

305-Winged Sprints
Heat #1 #56 Chris Douglas, #6U Anton Salopek, #12 James Mosher, #9 Robert Herrera DNF, #5 Joseph Hernandez DNX

Heat #2 #77 Colt Treharn, #148 Don Grable, #12M Jerry Mosher, #99 Chuck Jackson

Main-Event #56 Chris Douglas, #12M Jerry Mosher, #148 Don Grable, #6U Anton Salopek, #77 Colt Treharn, #5 Joseph Hernandez, #99 Chuck Jackson, #12 James Mosher DNS, #9 Robert Herrera DNS

Winged Mini-Sprints
Heat #1 and only #22 Robert Turner #MR07 Patrick Hurtado, #9X Eric Smith, #72 Mike Barnes, #14 Alex Robinson, #38 Duane Oldfield, #11K Tyler James Congelton DNF

Main-Event #22 Robert Turner, #MR07 Patrick Hurtado, #9X Eric Smith, #72 Mike Barnes, #14 Alex Robinson, #38 Duane Oldfield, #11K Tyler James Congelton DNF

Non-Winged Mini-Sprints
Heat #1 #45 Josh Shipley, #MR07 Patrick Hurtado, #72 Mike Barnes, #11K Tyler James Congelton, #C2 Kevin Vick

Heat #2 #9X Eric Smith, #22 Robert Turner, #14 Alex Robinson, #38 Duane Oldfield DNF

Main-Event #MR07 Patrick Hurtado, #9X Eric Smith, #72 Mike Barnes, #14 Alex Robinson, #22 Robert Turner, #38 Duane Oldfield, #C2 Kevin Vick, #45 Josh Shipley DNF, #11K Tyler James Congelton DNF

Have A Great Day
God Bless Everybody